Can supermarket take money after 2 weeks?

doozeruk

Hi guys

I have a quibble about Morrisons supermarket, which annoyed me a little, sort of.

On 13th April we done our fortnightly shop and the total came to just over £125, my wife IS good :rolleyes:, I paid using my Barclays debit card, as usual. A few days later I checked my current account online and sure enough the money had been taken from the balance but not as yet appeared on the statement. A couple of days after that I had a look again (its a habit, I like looking at money, or the lack of it, depending on the time of month :rotfl:) and to my absolute delight the money was back in my account, not a single mention of Morrisons on the statement and so I was up £125 over a few days previous and they obvisouly didn't want thier money.

Great i thought, I'll stay tight lipped about this one and happily carried on with normal life. Then without warning 2 weeks and 1 day after the transaction went through the money was taken out at last, the money was there, all though i was tempted to spend it!

But I wonder if there is a time limit on such things? Does anyone know if Morrisons/Barclays are all above board with this sort of thing, sure I know I owed them it but why take it, put it back and then take it again 2 weeks later, they ruined my fun!

thanks

inmypocketnottheirs

You could always query the transaction, but my guess would be that Morrisons/Barclays would provide proof that you authorised the transaction via signature or slip and spin. Once a transaction has been authorised the merchant is entitled to claim up to that amount.

inmypocketnottheirs

What happened there?

towseriv

Hi,

It is not Morrisons that have made the error it is the clearing bank. What will of happened is that for some reason the computer said it had taken your money for M and that it was being held by the clearing bank (similar to what they do for a cheque only electronicaly) During this time neither you nor M have the cash (technicaly it goes through checks to make sure the cash should of been taken and has been authorised). After the clearing time the bank will of deposited X into the M bank account and M will of realised that there was an amount more than the amount due (if it even got this far which is not likely, the bank will of realised befroe then probably). A query is raised and the transaction check by the bank. If they can see that you owe the cash then they can take it. This can take weeks at tiem but you still owe the money and if it was refused then the bank would pursue you for it. A similar thing can happen in reverse. A transaction could be charged twice and the amount taken from your account. A few days later the mistake is realised (again by the bannk and not M, unless you have been in screaming about them being thieves and how you have nothing to feed your children with) and credited back to your account.

As I am sure you can tell I have been through this situation several times and it is only the clearing bank and technology that is to blame

doozeruk

Thanks for that towseriv, I see where you are coming from, I think its about time this sort of thing didn't happen though!

Thanks again

equitydealer

doozeruk wrote:

But I wonder if there is a time limit on such things? Does anyone know if Morrisons/Barclays are all above board with this sort of thing, sure I know I owed them it but why take it, put it back and then take it again 2 weeks later, they ruined my fun!

thanks

Of course Morrisons can take the money, it's theirs not yours!

daveboy

I think there is a time limit...but in terms of years rather than days.

You authorised the transaction, and took goods to the amount, so what is the complaint about? Or would you rather other customers pay for it with higher prices?

doozeruk

daveboy wrote:

I think there is a time limit...but in terms of years rather than days.

You authorised the transaction, and took goods to the amount, so what is the complaint about? Or would you rather other customers pay for it with higher prices?

It wasnt really a complaint was it? A simple question as to why and if its ok, I AM WELL AWARE IT IS THEIR MONEY, I DIDNT SAY IT WASNT. Sorry was I shouting, read my first post properly to discover what I asked :rolleyes:

Thanks to the others who gave a constructive rather than hostile answer :T

Otago

Out of interest, I believe the law states money can be clawed back up to 6 years after the transaction!:eek: I found this out to my detrimentwhen MBNA came back for money 8 months late!

calleyw

My husband once had a transaction for a showcase cinemas and it took about two months for them to take the money and that was debit card. That was from there self service tills.

But that was years ago.

No idea why it took so long.

But it seems that they can take the money when they like it seems.


Yours


Calley

bargains83

I have a transaction for a pretty substantial some of money, using an Electron card. We are talking hundereds anyway which should have come out last october. 7 months later and it still hasn't come out, and the original card it was charged to has now also expired. This was a similar situation to the OP in the sense that it was taken, then put back then not touched again.

Needless to say I always make sure there is enough to cover it in my account at all costs, as I know they could pounce and take it at any time.

It is a bit much though and about time this sort of thing didn't happen, as if I had several transactions like this I don't think i'd be able to keep track of it.